From Venezuela to Naples: the music that remains

Sanitansamble brings together musical training and social impact, giving local form to the legacy of El Sistema in the heart of Rione Sanità.

«The power of the project is visible every time you watch the orchestra: everyone in their place, in silence, ready to play the first note». In that suspension before the sound lies the essence of Sanitansamble: a collective energy built over time, a discipline born of relationships and a concrete possibility for transformation. To truly understand Sanitansamble, one must begin far away, in another latitude and another era. In the 1970s, El Sistema¹ was founded in Venezuela, a project destined to radically change the relationship between music and society. José Antonio Abreu’s insight was both a political and cultural vision² in which the orchestra becomes a space of citizenship and a place where young people learn to be together, to recognise one another and to build something greater than themselves. Over time, that model spread across the world, eventually reaching Rione Sanità in Naples.

The Sanitansamble orchestra

Sanitansamble was born in a space of transformation: in 2008, when it took shape in Rione Sanità of Naples, «it did not seem to introduce something foreign», recalls Paolo Sullo, a musician who collaborates as viola tutor for Sanitansamble in Naples, «but rather to reactivate a tradition that was already present».

Naples is historically a city of music, and Sanità is a district tht embodies an intense, layered expression of this identity, often told only through its fragilities. In this sense, the project sought to reinterpret its potential, grafting itself onto a living cultural memory and engaging with its ability to be both global and deeply local.

Unlike many educational experiences that use music as an accessory tool, in Sanitansamble the orchestra is built:

«It is not about having already trained young people play», Sullo explains, «but about training them within the orchestra».

This implies a precise choice: adopting a full symphonic structure, with strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion, and working on a repertoire rooted in tradition. A choice that demands commitment and responsibility. El Sistema itself is founded on the belief that one learns to play by practicing together from the very beginning, immediately immersed in the collective dimension: the individual grows within the group and through the group.

The orchestra thus becomes a complex system in which every part is necessary and there is no space for isolated individualism. Each person’s sound acquires meaning only within that of the others, according to a form of learning that passes through the body, listening and repetition. «It is something that gives you goosebumps», says Sara Sbriglia, a violist and chemist who was part of Sanitansamble from the age of 16 until a few years ago. «You feel a kind of magic being created». Or rather, something that escapes the purely didactic dimension: an emotional intensity born from the synchronisation of gestures and the shaping of sound. Over time, the project has adapted to generational changes without altering its structure. «The foundations have stayed the same», says Sullo, «but we have changed the repertoire, also for ourselves, so as not to repeat ourselves». Renewal, in fact, is not only for the young people, but also for the teachers, allowing them to avoid stagnation.

Digital offbeat

One of the most striking aspects of Sanitansamble concerns its relationship with technology.

As Sullo states, «the orchestral experience presupposes the other and transcends technology». This is not an ideological stance nor a rule imposed from outside; rather, it is a natural consequence of shared musical practice³. When young people enter the rehearsal space, their attention naturally shifts to what is happening around them. The mobile phone, though present, loses its centrality until it almost disappears from the horizon of experience. In this context, technology is not demonised, but brought back to its original function as support. It can be useful for listening to a piece on YouTube, practising with a metronome or recording a performance to review it for improvement. However, these tools remain marginal compared to the core of the orchestral experience.

«Technology supports individual learning», Sullo observes, «whereas here everything is built through relationships». From this perspective, the orchestra can be interpreted as a form of implicit resistance, a response to technology’s tendency to foster isolation and fragmented attention. Sanitansamble offers young people an increasingly rare experience: that of sustained concentration, authentic physical presence and real cooperation, where time is marked by the shared breath of music. As researcher Giovanni Conelli notes, «Young people seem to forget they even have a phone». It is a striking remark, because it describes a spontaneous transformation that, for a few hours each week, changes the way people are together.

The impact of the project

Looking at individual trajectories, it becomes clear that Sanitansamble is not a project aimed at producing professional musicians. Some do pursue that path, but many others follow different routes. What unites these stories is the impact of the experience.

«It gave me the opportunity to have experiences I would never otherwise have had», says Sara Sbriglia, who joined the project in 2008, later becoming a violist, performing in concerts and travelling. Above all, as she herself emphasises, it changed the way she saw her neighbourhood. «It allowed me to truly get to know people, beyond appearances». Her path is emblematic: after her musical experience, she pursued a scientific career, graduating in the pharmaceutical field. Yet she continues to recognise Sanitansamble as a defining moment. Not so much for having directly shaped her professional choice, but for having provided her with interpretative and relational tools useful for understanding reality. For those who take part, Sanitansamble becomes part of one’s identity. «It is an identity-defining fact», says Sullo. Crucial in this process has been the dimension of everyday life: weekly rehearsals, gradual work and the progressive construction of a collective sound have fostered the development of skills such as discipline, mutual listening and a shared sense of responsibility. A particularly emblematic episode was an encounter, during a rehearsal, with an internationally renowned artist, which led to a performance at the RAI studios. An experience that allowed all the young musicians to engage with high-level professional contexts, enhancing their awareness of their own potential and future opportunities.

Even after fifteen years of teaching, relationships with students continue over time, turning into lasting bonds. The way Sullo describes this experience is striking: not as a one-way act of generosity, but as an exchange. «It was not about taking something away from me to give it to them. It was a mutual exchange». This statement challenges a traditional and often stereotyped view of social intervention as a top-down act of “giving”, instead favouring the idea of an authentic encounter in which all those involved grow and enrich one another. From an academic perspective as well, the experience of Sanitansamble has sparked interest and stimulated in-depth reflection. Sullo himself is now engaged in a research project dedicated to these practices, demonstrating that their impact goes beyond the local context and feeds into a broader debate on cultural policies, music education and processes of social inclusion.

A fragile balance

Alongside its educational and artistic dimension, there is a structural issue that runs through the entire history of Sanitansamble: economic sustainability. «Since 2008, we have always been searching for funding», explains conductor Acunzo. The project has never benefited from stable public support. Resources mainly come from private donations: foundations, banks and citizens. It is a model that guarantees autonomy, but also exposes the project to constant precarity. Costs are significant: in addition to purchasing instruments, there is their maintenance, teachers’ fees, organisational expenses and insurance. «You cannot improvise an organisation like this», Sullo emphasises, and every activity is formalised and protected. This dimension often remains invisible, yet it is essential. Sanitansamble requires managerial as well as artistic skills, and its continuity over time is, in itself, an achievement. Perhaps because, as Sullo implicitly suggests, what it gives back to its context exceeds what it receives.

After nearly twenty years, Sanitansamble continues to exist as a dynamic balance: the young people change, the repertoire changes, external conditions change. But the core remains. An orchestra that offers a concrete alternative, a place where time is shared, mistakes are visible and the result — which lies not so much (or not only) in providing skills but in building a space in which young people can experience a sense of community — is created together⁴.

And so that initial image returns, with new clarity: young people seated, instruments in hand, waiting for the first note. The beginning of a piece and, each time, of a possibility.

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1. El Sistema https://www.britannica.com/topic/El-Sistema ↩︎
2. The El Sistema educational model https://www.sistemaeurope.org/ ↩︎
3. The musical and social impact of certain orchestras: Damasio, A., Disoteo, M., Ferrara, E., Ferrari, F., Fiorentino, C., Fresu, P., Gróh, I., Lombardo, P., López García, A., Marconi, L., Monarda, A., Rebaudengo, A., Salemi, L., Santini, G., Sbattella, L., Scafili, R., Scalfaro, A., Sullo, P., & Szekeres, M. (2017). Il pensiero musicale: le ragioni dell’emozione [Journal-article]. Musica Domani, XLVII(176), 5–100. https://www.musicadomani.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MD_176.pdf ↩︎
4. What playing music teaches us: Dumont, E., Syurina, E. V., Feron, F. J. M., & Van Hooren, S. (2017). Music Interventions and Child Development: A Critical review and Further directions. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1694. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5626863/ ↩︎